Scotty James Wins Olympic Halfpipe Silver, Rival Ayuma Hirano taking the Gold
Mountainwatch |News
Scotty James was pipped for the gold medal at the Olympics today, Japan’s Ayuma Hirano absorbing the pressure on his final run, laying down an awesome run that scored a huge 96 points to overtake James and secure the win
Hirano was the final rider of the event, needing to better the 92.5 James was holding from his second run, and he put down the runoff a lifetime, starting with a flawless triple 1440 followed by a series of technical tricks including frontside 1220s and a 1440. The triple was the third time one had been performed successfully in competition – the other two during Ayuma’s first two runs today
Switzerland’s Jan Scherrer was third with an 87.25 ahead of Shaun White on 85. Valentino Guseli was 6th with a 79.75, a great result for the 16-year-old at his first Olympics.
After a spectacular qualification round the expectation was that today’s final would see the top riders push the sport’s progression and no one was disappointed, the competitors throwing down some huge technical tricks, riders hitting 5 metres above the pipe with a “go hard or go home” attitude that was awesome to watch.
The rivalry between James and Hirano fuelled the drama with Hirano reversing the results of last month’s X games. Throw in Valentino as the youngest competitor on debut and 35-year-old and three-time gold medallist Shaun White in his fifth and final Olympics and today had it all.
For Hirano the win is particularly satisfying after he won silver in the 2014 and 2018 games. He was only 14 when he won at Sochi in 2014 and at 23-years-old he may be the one to challenge White’s legacy.
For James the result is one better than the bronze he won in PyeongChang in 2018 and, as he said during an interview after the final, he’ll be looking to add gold to that tally at the next Winter Olympics in Italy in four years’ time.
In other Australian snowboard Olympic news, our men’s snowboard cross team had a disappointing day yesterday, Cam Bolton the highest placed with a quarter final finish while 2018 silver medallist Jarryd Hughes, Adam Dickson and Adam Lambert failed to progress through the first round.
The final snowboard cross event is the mixed teams with Cam Bolton getting the nod ahead of Jarryd Hughes to join Belle Brockhoff in tomorrow’s event. Tess Coady and Matty Cox will then return to competition for the snowboard big air qualifications on Monday, Feb 14, the final snowboard event of the games.
On Sunday, freeskier Abi Harrigan will be competing in the women’s slopestyle qualifications and our aerial skiers will also make their first appearance in the qualification rounds on Sunday afternoon. Another big weekend of Olympic action ahead!
